Starship launch still stalled by FAA
According to a tweet by Elon Musk today, Starship will be ready for its first orbital test launch in a few weeks.
Musk also noted however that SpaceX is still awaiting the FAA’s launch license, and because of this he now expects the launch in the third week in April.
Why it is taking months for the FAA to issue this license is disturbing, and suggests that under the Biden administration the feds are behaving more and more like the incompetent Civil Aviation Authority in the UK, which stonewalled Virgin Orbit’s launch for months so that the company now sits on the verge of bankruptcy.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay for this story, who will be gone for the next two weeks on vacation. Have fun Jay.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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According to a tweet by Elon Musk today, Starship will be ready for its first orbital test launch in a few weeks.
Musk also noted however that SpaceX is still awaiting the FAA’s launch license, and because of this he now expects the launch in the third week in April.
Why it is taking months for the FAA to issue this license is disturbing, and suggests that under the Biden administration the feds are behaving more and more like the incompetent Civil Aviation Authority in the UK, which stonewalled Virgin Orbit’s launch for months so that the company now sits on the verge of bankruptcy.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay for this story, who will be gone for the next two weeks on vacation. Have fun Jay.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
But still.
Musk and another SpaceX VP are predicting “towards the end of April”
Hotels are on speed dial and reservations at Rocket Ranch Observation site been in place for 2 years.
Fingers crossed
Advantages that Elon Musk, like President Trump have are that they are both really smart, they are 3D chess masters, and they love a good fight.
The government bureaucrats attacking them are cowardly idiots.
The rumor is that President Trump is going to get arrested by the Democrats next week on drummed up political charges. Elon Musk tweeted about this “If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory”
A meme to add a little 3D chess flavoring to the discussion:
https://bit.ly/40fKkuX
What an incredible time to be alive.
There was a section of swamp land water shed that was for sale right next to the launch site. I found it one day looking for land in Texas.
it was something like 500 acres a real cheap, but it came with total building restrictions and had to stay accessible to biologists and boat traffic.
If I had a boat it would have made a great place to watch launches from.
pzatchok,
Some friends own some Maine land that only allows a wooden tent platform and a tent not more than 3 months a year. Very low taxes and no services but nice, if you like being fly food. My son went a couple times to help with construction.
Here is more on the cumbersome process of launching something into space:
https://www.floridadaily.com/florida-congressmen-bring-back-bill-cutting-regulations-on-private-companies-wanting-to-launch-rockets/
Congressman Darren Soto, D-Fla., has sponsored a bill that will, in his words, “will eliminate unnecessary barriers that hamper the ability of private companies to obtain spectrum licenses required to launch rockets from the United States including locally at Cape Canaveral.”
This would certainly seem helpful, but what can be done about malingering at the FAA?